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Abstract #3270

Investigating Resting-State Functional Connectivity Using Passband BSSFP

Joe S. Cheng1, 2, Iris Y. Zhou1, 2, Patrick P. Gao1, 2, Russell W. Chan1, 2, Queenie Chan3, Henry Ka Fung Mak4, Pek Lan Khong4, Ed X. Wu5

1Laboratory of Biomedical Imaging and Signal Processing, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong; 2Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Hong Kong, Hong Kong; 3Philips Healthcare, Hong Kong, Hong Kong; 4Diagnostic Radiology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong; 5The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, SAR, China, Hong Kong


Resting-state functional MRI (rsfMRI) using blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) contrast has emerged as a valuable become an increasingly important tool for mapping inter and intra-hemispheric connectivity in normal and diseased brains. To date, most rsfMRI studies have exploited blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) contrast using T2*- weighted gradient-echo (GE) EPI, which suffers from signal drops and image distortion due to magnetic susceptibility and inherent long TE. Alternatively, T2/T1- weighted passband balanced SSFP (bSSFP) has been promoted for distortion-free, high spatial resolution task-based functional imaging. In this study, we studied the capability of passband b-SSFP for rsfMRI. Resting-state networks (RSNs) of similar but different spatial and temporal pattern were identified, especially into areas near air sinus.